I wonder what the world would be like, had Western nations not invaded Iraq and Afghanistan.

[redgreenandblue]

Had there been no Abu Ghraib, no Fallujah, no bombed weddings, "bug splats" and "double taps", would there be an ISIS? Would the recent shootings in Paris have happened?

I have no answer but I think it's a valid question.

[Nye Bevan]

1. Well.... remember that the 9/11 attacks occurred before either the Iraq or Afghanistan invasions.

So I am not sure that all would be blissful peace and harmony.

[boston bean]

6. the 1993 bombing of the WTC.......

bombing of the USS Cole....

[mikehiggins]

8. 911 was not the cause

it is sometimes stated that the WTC attacks were the cause of our illegal, if not unprecedented, invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq but that ignores the fact that the Bush/Cheney cabal and the neocons were already determined to invade Iraq before the first plane took off. Wesley Clark reported he was told that the party line was that Iraq was too blame even before anyone knew anything about the murderers (incidentally, most of them were Saudis, not Iraqis, Afghans or Iranians). bin Laden most likely escaped capture in Afghanistan because the Bush people redirected our military towards Baghdad, for no rational reason except for...hell, there was no rational reason. Just political attempts to establish an American caliphate in the Middle East. Weird thought, but that's what it basically comes down to.

A more telling question, in my view, is how would the world differ today if the US Supreme Court had not intervened in the Bush/Gore election? That one decision has shaped the entire planet in an entirely different way. There is a special spot in Hell for those who made that decision.

[former9thward]

2. Pretty much the same.

10-15 years is a short time in world history. Those nations are very unstable and it will continue no matter who is there.

[MineralMan]

3. Pretty much like it was before.

Pretty much like it has been for, like, forever. We live in a world that is full of ugliness, and that has always been the case.

[JI7]

4. There were terror attacks before that

[madokie]

5. I think it would be more peaceful

mind you we've already been fucking with them to begin with. Enough to ferment some of the hatred directed towards us today.

When I say them I mean the middle east

[gwheezie]

7. I'm pretty sure isis would not be in iraq

And if they were we'd be arming saddam